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Events Toolkit

Events Toolkit

Are you organising an event with Europeana? Running a webinar around digital cultural heritage and not sure where to start? Need some tips to organise a hybrid conference? Our events toolkit is here to help, and we will add to it as we get new learnings from our experiences! 

 

Benefits of digital events

Meeting face-to-face with people is important, but there are great benefits to hybrid and online-only events too. Hybrid and online events can: 

  • Engage small to medium sized audiences (10 - 1,000 people)

  • Be interactive - allowing participants to share their own knowledge/experience/questions

  • Be a lasting resource - shared afterwards as an online recording

  • Be a resource with a lower carbon footprint (no travel costs)

  • Encourage participation of speakers anywhere in the world

Decision making

Before organising an event, there are a number of questions you can ask yourself and your team to clarify what you are trying to achieve, and so what you need to plan. Use our PDF to navigate your way through a series of helpful questions.

  • ONLINE EVENTS CHECKLIST - GRAPHML FILE. This format allows you to edit our checklist through yED (free software). Open the file.

  • ONLINE EVENTS CHECKLIST - PDF. Download and use the checklist as a PDF decision tree. Open the PDF.

Measuring success and impact

Once you know what impact you want to achieve, think about how you’re going to measure and evaluate it. This will help you to learn about the experience your audience will have at the event, and support you to learn, improve, and create more impact.

Below, you can find resources to help you measure the impact of your events, as well as a list of important considerations!

10 impact assessment and evaluation considerations for event organisers

  1. Data protection. People must know why you’re collecting data, what you’ll do with it and how we’ll protect it. If you don’t know this yet, think about this and make sure you are complying with GDPR guidelines.

  2. Timing. Think about the event impact as soon as you start planning the event, and use our impact tools to help design the most impactful event possible. Have your evaluation questionnaire ready before the event so you can send it as soon as possible. 

  3. Your audience. Who is taking part in your event, and how might you survey them? Is it important for you to monitor your audiences (e.g. the gender diversity or affiliations of your participants)?

  4. Collecting your data. Events have lots of opportunities but also challenges in terms of data collection. In many cases, participants register for the event. This is a data collection opportunity. You can also use interactive presentations or tools (e.g. Mentimeter or the Zoom poll feature) that you can use to collect data in real time. A challenge is after the event: you rely on the participants to be willing to spend time sharing their feedback. In some cases, you might get a low response rate. You will also encounter participant bias.

  5. Collect data early. Respecting GDPR, what data can you collect at the registration stage? Can you document a pre-event confidence level on the topic that you are addressing in your event, for example? 

  6. Clear communication. Tell the audience that they’ll be surveyed, what you expect to learn from the data and why this is valuable for you (and in time, them). Clear communication can help with response rates. 

  7. Standardisation. Use the same approach across different events so that the data you collect is comparable. This will also help you set a benchmark for the quality of the change you want to create or for the satisfaction of your event participants. 

  8. The questionnaire is part of experience. Make sure that your questionnaire is short and engaging. Check that it works well, has no typos, uses clear language and only asks relevant questions. 

  9. Short and long-term change. Don’t expect to see long-term outcomes immediately after your event! Change takes time. Ask questions that relate to short-term outcomes and indicators in the post-event questionnaire, and think about how you might assess longer-term outcomes in another way. 

  10. Using the data. How will you use the data after you collect it? Who do you need to share the findings and recommendations with and what will you learn from these?

Tools

There are many webinar platforms and tools to support online events. Your choice will depend on what you need and what your institution’s policies are, but you can explore some of our choices below. We are not affiliated with any of the suppliers, and there are many options out there to explore! 

Roles and responsibilities

At Europeana, we have many people who contribute to events. Below you can see the responsibilities they have - who would perform these activities in your institution? 

  • Event manager: Takes overall responsibility for all events 

  • Event organiser: Takes overall responsibility for the delivery of an individual event/webinar

  • Partner liaison: Informs partners about events and collects their ideas

  • Event coordinator: Manages the events calendar; sets up registration platform using a template with standard questions, confirmation email, reminders and follow-up emails; act as host and sets up the webinar platform; evaluates the webinar process at regular intervals; supports staff in deciding the appropriate event format/platform for what they want to achieve; creates surveys; coordinates technical test and technical aspects of the webinar delivery on the day, keeps track of who is attending the event

  • Promoter: Creates promotional material; uses own websites plus social media/networking channels eg Twitter, LinkedIn, ListServ; makes recording available online

  • Facilitator/Moderator: Chairs the event

  • Video switcher: Responsible for switching camera sources, starting videos, and playing visual elements 

  • Camera operator: Operates a camera at the event (whether in-person, hybrid or online event)

  • Video editor: Edits recordings of the event and/or pre-recorded presentations

Formats

There are many ways to structure online events. Think about how much you want to tell, how much you want to listen, and how much you want to discuss. Explore the formats we are working with and some top tips for delivering them online.

Formats

Webinars 

  • Maximum of 90 minutes

  • Moderated panel discussion

  • Presenter with/without slideshow

  • Discussion using pre-selected questions

  • Free discussion - using chat or ‘hands-up’ feature to involve audience

  • Letting people ask questions through a Q&A tool, questions are asked by a moderator

Workshops and training sessions

  • 45 - 60 minutes or longer with breaks

  • Clear learning goals developed and communicated, see our Guidelines for training delivery and development for more information.

  • Use of interaction tools to involve learners and measure if learning goals are being met

  • Q&A

  • Break-out sessions in smaller groups, with a facilitator in each group

  • Use of ‘workbooks’  with exercises that attendees receive before the event (take a look at one of our examples)

Cafe

  • 60 minutes.

  • An informal and interactive space where two or three people are invited to start a discussion about a specific topic

  • Afterwards there is the possibility for a Q&A and networking

  • If the cafe is not recorded a recap on the topic can be recorded for sharing afterwards

Pub quiz

  • Maximum of 30 minutes.

  • For socialising!

  • Use mentimeter for questions and scoring board

  • Chat for interaction

Tips for delivering online formats

  • Hardwire your internet connection: this will help avoid any issues with an unstable wifi connection, which can affect audio quality and the overall attendee experience.

  • Test the audio before the webinar begins: organise a run through with all the speakers, making sure they are attending the test in the same place and with the same device they will use for the event, to ensure a good connection and that microphone, sound and vision are working properly before the live event begins. 

    • We usually plan a run through with speakers several days before the event. We explicitly ask them to do this from the location and with the device they intend to use for the event.

  • Minimise background noise: try to host your webinar in a quiet place. If you must be in a loud environment, using a headset with a mic often reduces background noise compared with your computer’s built-in microphone. In fact, a headset is a general best practice for higher-quality audio than other built-in options.

  • Dress: If using an event background, wear solid colours to avoid disturbing the background with patterns. Be mindful of any accessories or jewellery if you are expressive with your hands as the noise can be quite distracting. 

  • Set proper expectations: create a clear event title and description for the content that will be delivered. Make sure you deliver on the content that was promised in the promotions leading up to the digital event. 

  • Start on time: start the event at least five minutes early to allow attendees to join before it begins. The host should let attendees know when the event will start and if it will be recorded and shared afterward. If you think that people will join earlier, you can always start the event and prepare an automated slideshow (often called a narrowcast) or a timer to countdown until the start. See an example of a slideshow and timer we have used. 

  • Set the tone: welcome attendees as they join the event and if possible, start with an icebreaker question which people answer in person or in the chat.

Advice for speakers

  • Ask someone to take on the role of checking the chat or Q&A  and then addressing these questions to the speaker. 

  • Speak as if you’re face-to-face with the audience while ensuring you’re at the appropriate distance from the microphone for the best audio experience.

  • When delivering a presentation, sharing images, files or video, give your audience a moment to open or take in what you’ve shared.

  • Embrace the breaks! Take a moment after the end of your comments and allow for the audience to engage before continuing on.

Planning process

Use our templates and practical checklists to help plan your event and read our guidance for how to communicate about your event - before and after it takes place.

Planning template: Make a copy of our planning template to track all the actions needed to organise an event. 

Calendar: Make a copy of our planning calendar to manage multiple events. 

Running order: Make a copy of our running order template to manage your event.

Script: Make a copy of our script template to track all the actions needed to organise an event.

Communications for events: Guidance on how to share information about your event. 

Are you organising an online event? You need to know how you will communicate about it and where you will make information available. Explore our guidance below - part of the Europeana Events Toolkit. 

Before the event

  • Decide if the event will benefit from a hashtag on social media; how high profile is it? Is it lasting a day or longer? Are people likely to want to use it from afar and connect with other attendees? Have you got a hashtag you want to use, and if so, has it been used in other contexts before? Check with someone from your comms team for advice. 

  • Prepare promotional text - include title, date, time (including timezone), topic, speakers and a link to register. Think about all the channels/audiences you have and create texts tailored to each one. Make sure you tell them why should they attend - what will they get out of the event?

  • Prepare key visuals for f the event

  • Prepare registration page text - include promo text as above, plus any technical information registrants need to know.

  • Prepare email confirmation, reminders and follow-up messages for attendees and speakers. Include technical joining information, relevant resources from the event or opportunities to join other activities.

  • Prepare your post-event survey - set up a template if you are running multiple webinars so that you collect the same information each time and can then make comparisons. 

Sharing the event

  • Use channels you own such as your own websites and newsletters; we collect all events together on our Events page. 

  • Use social media/networking channels such as LinkedIn to share details of your event.

  • Use mailing lists such as newsletters or ListServs.

  • Tell your own colleagues about the event - do you use Slack? Or an internal newsletter?

  • Keep track of the event registrations and send reminders if necessary - you can tweet a couple of times - or retweet what others have shared. Think about where your target audience is likely to be and how you can best reach them? 

During the event

  • People may tweet during the session - share the hashtag at the start of the event and on the visuals associated with the event.

  • Have someone responsible for monitoring and responding to social media posts/tweets.

  • Have someone responsible for watching and responding to the platform’s chat function.

  • Share the survey link.

  • Inform people if you are recording the event and if you intend to share it - they need to be aware.

After the event

  • Make your recording available online - whether that’s just on YouTube/Vimeo or embedded on your own site. We curate recordings of past events on our Europeana YouTube channel. 

  • Send a ‘thank you’ email to registrants with any resources such as the slideshow used in the event, the recording of the event and the survey link

  • Don’t forget to check back on what people posted on social media about your webinar, to learn about what worked well (or didn’t!) and use this to inform planning for future events. 

  • You may want to do a blog post or newsletter write-up of your event to share the resources and the recording.

Communicating with presenters

  • Presenter brief: In order to make sure your speakers know exactly what you’d like them to do and when, it’s useful to set up a presenter brief that contains everything they need to know. Keep it as short as you can so that important information is easy to spot.

  • Planning: Make sure your presenters are aware of what you would like them to do and relevant deadlines, so that you can get in touch to remind them to, for example, send their bio in, or attend the technical test session.

  • Recording: Make sure your speakers are aware if you intend to record and share the session, and plan how you will respond to any concerns or manage any edits they request. 

  • Promotion: Ask your speakers and partners to share the event announcements - offer draft promotional text which they can use.

  • Wrapping up: After the event, send a ‘thank you’ email to your speakers and anyone else involved in organising the event, along with an opportunity to give feedback on the process.

  • Testing: Offer presenters at least one opportunity to test any specific needs, including location and equipment. 

Risk management for online events

Being prepared for things going wrong can help you to manage risks associated with online events. By testing your platform and your running order, you can work through some of the most common issues. Make sure you set up at least one test session/rehearsal  a few days before so that you have time to resolve any issues and test the following:

  • The coordinator can share screen and background slides, and take back control of the screen if needed.

  • The presenter(s) can join, hear, see, be heard, be seen, share their screen and play audio.

  • The moderator can monitor time; you may wish to test sending private messages to the presenter to alert them they have five minutes left.

  • The coordinator can mute/unmute other participants if necessary.

  • The coordinator can record the webinar and archive the chat discussion. 

  • Organisers and presenters have a channel through which they can communicate about the event (a ‘back channel’), particularly if any problems arise.

  • Everyone is aware of all roles and responsibilities, and clear on how to respond if any technological or other problems arise.

    • Participants can easily engage via a chat/messaging function.

Hybrid events

Hybrid events are events that take place both in person, in a physical location, and digitally. When organising a hybrid event, it is important to present the same value to both online and offline audiences. While all of the resources detailed above can be used for a hybrid event, there are also some distinct approaches required at a hybrid event. 

A key thing is to treat virtual and in-person participants equally. It is easy to accidentally focus more time, energy and resources on the in-person audience. To ensure this shared experience we follow the guiding principle that every participant should be able to:

  1. Contribute to the event

  2. Hear anyone else speak

  3. See the person that is speaking

  4. See and hear any slides, videos and other multimedia sources, if possible with the speaker.

Team

At hybrid events you need an in-person team and an online team. The in-person team should also ensure the connection between the online and in-person participants. In addition to the roles detailed in our Roles and Responsibilities section you need:

  • Online host: Welcomes the online participants, keeps track of who is attending the event online

  • Chat moderator:  Watches the discussion either on chat or in the room and communicates relevant information to the facilitator/moderator. 

  • Video director: is responsible for anything that is shown on screen during an event. For hybrid events this means controlling what is shown to online participants and what is shown to in-person participants. Preferably this is someone who knows the programme in detail and is familiar with the participants. The video director is also the timekeeper, and in i smaller events the video director can also be the video operator. 

Technical setup

A hybrid event also demands more complex technical support and equipment to make sure it works for both audiences. For medium and large scale events we recommend using: 

  • At least two cameras to make sure you catch all the action and to give online participants the feeling they are actually present

  • A video switching device to switch between these cameras, slides and picture in picture scenes 

  • A large screen (TV screen) in the physical location to let the in-person participants see the online participants in a gallery view or to highlight a single participant or speaker. 

  • A separate large screen for content that needs to be shown to the in-person participants, for example slides.

  • At least one, but preferably more, handheld microphones for the in-person location. 

  • Speaker (PA system) for the in-person location 

  • An audio mixing desk to route the audio 

    • from the in-person event to the online participants and possibly to the PA system on location

    • From the online participants to the PA system 

Audience interaction

Interaction with both online and in person audiences is essential for a successful hybrid event. There are a number of tools that you can use to interact with the audiences and support hybrid collaboration, while making sure that both audiences feel involved and engaged. Make sure you communicate with your audience well before your event, as it might require them to bring their own device and potentially register or log into an account. Also make sure that the in-person location has enough wifi bandwidth to support all the devices of all participants.

Almost all online event platforms have a chat functionality for participants to communicate with each other and with the teams supporting the event. In a hybrid event you can use chat in the following ways:

  • The chat is primarily used by online participants. In-person participants can also use the chat on their own device if they would like to. Make sure that in-person participants have their audio muted and camera turned off. Their audio and video is covered by the on site equipment.

  • The chat is observed continuously by someone at the venue, preferably this is the online event coordinator. This person can either repeat any questions and comments from the online participants at the in-person event, using the microphone (this also ensures that the questions are noted if the event is being recorded) or add the questions to the dynamic document (see below) for the moderator to see.

Interacting with both audiences also requires coordinated and clear communication between the online and in-person teams in back channels. ‘Back channels’ are ways of communication that are not visible or audible by participants. We suggest using the following: 

  • A dynamic document that can be accessed by all team members and can be updated during the event. Google Docs, Office365, Etherpad are all usable examples. This document can collect questions from participants and urgent or important updates. The moderator should have access to this at all times. 

  • Direct communication channels A separate communication channel for high priority messages is advised. Examples of these channels are Whatsapp, Signal, Slack and Telegram. 

Breaks

Communicate clearly about any breaks in your event; here are some of our top tips on how they can be used: 

  • Make sure that the online host tells the online participants when a break starts, how long it will take and checks in with them before the programme starts again.

  • Breaks are potential moments to solve technical problems and collect ideas on how to improve the event even better.

  • Make the break more visual than just a static slide. Turn on a wide angle camera that still shows activity, or broadcast news or music so that online participants still know that their connection is still live.

Timekeeping

Timekeeping is very important during hybrid events to create a shared experience for both the online and in-person audience. Countdown clocks are an essential tool to inform both audiences about the schedule - use the inbuilt event platform option, a table with a countdown visible to both audiences, or a countdown clock on a video switching device. 

Further reading and resources

Risk management

Being prepared for things going wrong can help you to manage risks associated with online events. By testing your platform and your running order, you can work through some of the most common issues. Make sure you set up at least one test session/rehearsal  a few days before so that you have time to resolve any issues and test the following:

  • The coordinator can share screen and background slides, and take back control of the screen if needed.

  • The presenter(s) can join, hear, see, be heard, be seen, share their screen and play audio.

  • The moderator can monitor time; you may wish to test sending private messages to the presenter to alert them they have five minutes left.

  • The coordinator can mute/unmute other participants if necessary.

  • The coordinator can record the webinar and archive the chat discussion. 

  • Organisers and presenters have a channel through which they can communicate about the event (a ‘back channel’), particularly if any problems arise.

  • Everyone is aware of all roles and responsibilities, and clear on how to respond if any technological or other problems arise.

  • Participants can easily engage via a chat/messaging function.

Inclusive engagement

It's important to ensure that participants at events can be open, respectful and kind to one another. How can event organisers work towards this? Look at Europeana's Inclusive Engagement Guidelines for inspiration. 

Explore more

Events

Europeana organises, attends and highlights events for the digital cultural heritage sector and common European data space for cultural heritage. 

Glossary of Terms  

In this glossary you can find formal definitions of terms used frequently by the Europeana Initiative and across Europeana’s frameworks.